Standard 1: Strategic Leadership
Principals will create conditions that result in strategically re-imaging the school’s vision, mission, and goals in the 21st century. Understanding that schools ideally prepare students for an unseen but not altogether unpredictable future, the leader creates a climate of inquiry that challenges the school community to continually re-purpose itself by building on its core values and beliefs about its preferred future and then developing a pathway to reach it.
A. School Vision, Mission and Strategic Goals: The school’s identity, in part, is derived from the vision, mission, values, beliefs and goals of the school, the processes used to establish these attributes, and the ways they are embodied in the life of the school community.
Durham Performance Learning Center's Five Year Plan
After our first year as a leadership team, Principal Futrell and I wanted to create a strategic plan that supported the long term goals of Durham Public Schools. We believe in the vision of DPS and wanted to ensure that our school was in alignment to best serve the district. As such, we developed all our strategic long term goals to reflect the goals set forth by district leadership.
The goal we are most proud of is goal 1D:
By 2023, DPLC leaders and staff will lead professional development and be the model for blended learning/personalized learning for Durham Public Schools.
Due to pandemic needs, our teachers became online instructional leaders and were able to showcase their expertise in blended instruction to the district. Our teachers became course creators and professional development facilitators when their need was the highest. We are very proud of the growth of our teachers and their leadership during such a challenging time.
After our first year as a leadership team, Principal Futrell and I wanted to create a strategic plan that supported the long term goals of Durham Public Schools. We believe in the vision of DPS and wanted to ensure that our school was in alignment to best serve the district. As such, we developed all our strategic long term goals to reflect the goals set forth by district leadership.
The goal we are most proud of is goal 1D:
By 2023, DPLC leaders and staff will lead professional development and be the model for blended learning/personalized learning for Durham Public Schools.
Due to pandemic needs, our teachers became online instructional leaders and were able to showcase their expertise in blended instruction to the district. Our teachers became course creators and professional development facilitators when their need was the highest. We are very proud of the growth of our teachers and their leadership during such a challenging time.
Welcome Back Presentation and Vision Board
In the beginning of the school year of my Principal Residency, our administration team at Parkwood Elementary school planned a "welcome back" meeting for our teachers. At that meeting, we looked at our data from last year and discussed our goals for the current school year. In addition to discussing our schools goals, we revisited our school vision: "Success for Every Child, Every Day." We then facilitated an activity to support that vision. Each teacher was to choose one word that gives them drive to meet our vision. We then took each word and created a "vision" bulletin board for the whole school to see. We strategically placed it at the entrance to our school so all who entered would know why we do the work we do.
B. Leading Change: The school executive articulates a vision and implementation strategies for improvements and changes which result in improved achievement for all students.
The State of PLC Leadership Team Meeting
Every School has a defining moment, a watershed change that impacts the trajectory of the vision and mission of the school. For us, this moment came at a leadership team meeting in 2019. Our leadership was still relatively new and our school was in a strange limbo trying to find a new identity. We were so stuck on what we were and had difficultly leaning into what we were becoming. We used the language of "district speed boat vs district life boat." Traditionally, DPLC was the speed boat. Our teachers understood it and knew how to move kids through content quickly to get them towards graduation. This worked well for PLC because for the years leading up to our tenure as leaders, PLC students had to be able to read at an 8th grade reading level and needed to show levels of proficiency in math. Over time, the district had other needs. This became more and more clear to us. We needed to address it and help our team understand that it was time to move past what we were and to shift our focus on what we can be. This meeting had ripple effects that we could have never predicted. We began to focus not on what was, but what we are. We began transforming our identity. Our teacher leaders began to run and research and found a system called the Modern Classroom Project. A pedagogy similar to DPLC's but with far more structure and that truly differentiated and personalized learning. We knew that this was what our students needed and committed our school to its implementation.
Every School has a defining moment, a watershed change that impacts the trajectory of the vision and mission of the school. For us, this moment came at a leadership team meeting in 2019. Our leadership was still relatively new and our school was in a strange limbo trying to find a new identity. We were so stuck on what we were and had difficultly leaning into what we were becoming. We used the language of "district speed boat vs district life boat." Traditionally, DPLC was the speed boat. Our teachers understood it and knew how to move kids through content quickly to get them towards graduation. This worked well for PLC because for the years leading up to our tenure as leaders, PLC students had to be able to read at an 8th grade reading level and needed to show levels of proficiency in math. Over time, the district had other needs. This became more and more clear to us. We needed to address it and help our team understand that it was time to move past what we were and to shift our focus on what we can be. This meeting had ripple effects that we could have never predicted. We began to focus not on what was, but what we are. We began transforming our identity. Our teacher leaders began to run and research and found a system called the Modern Classroom Project. A pedagogy similar to DPLC's but with far more structure and that truly differentiated and personalized learning. We knew that this was what our students needed and committed our school to its implementation.
Friday School Letter Home/Friday School Schedule
When I began my work as an Assistant Principal at Durham Performance Learning Center, my Principal and I had an idea to drastically improve the attendance rates and improve student proficiency at our school. We created a "Friday School" plan. The goal of Friday school is to motivate students to come to school Monday through Thursday. During the time they are in school, the students are expected to stay on pace and meet their teachers requirements. If the students are caught up with their work and passing their classes, the students are not required to come to school on Friday. If they do not meet the requirements then that child must attend Friday School to remediate and get extra support. As part of the Friday school model, the students that are required to come, receive one on one and small group coaching and tutoring for their teachers. We know the students we serve come from all different backgrounds with diverse challenges. In the development of this plan, we wanted to create an alternative schedule that best meets the needs of our students so if necessary, the students have the chance to spend extra time at home to support family, or work extra hours.
C. School Improvement Plan: The school improvement plan provides the structure for the vision. Values, goals and changes necessary for improved achievement for all students.
2017/2018 Parkwood Elementary School Improvement Goals
Our school improvement goals at Parkwood were to grow our overall proficiency to 56%. The following PowerPoint was created in partnership by the School Improvement Team and administration to clarify goals and strategies to achieve them. The plan was then to have grade level representatives take this information and disseminate it to their respective grade level teams. Our administrative team decided that it would be better to empower the SIT team representatives to facilitate the data and goals to the staff. At the the staff meeting the SIT team reviewed the data and clarified our schools goals for the year. These goals acted as the schools foundation for the year. While I was a resident at Parkwood, the administrative team and school improvement team regularly referred to and used these goals as a benchmark to improve achievement at our school.
D. Distributive Leadership: The school executive creates and utilizes processes to distribute leadership and decision making throughout the school.
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Dean of Students Job Description
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L2N Work on the Walls
As part of our schools work towards a strong instructional culture and meeting our proficiency goals, the administrative team at Parkwood empowered the schools L2N leadership team by having them conduct a series of "Work on the Walls" walkthroughs for each grade level. As an administrative team, we wanted to grow our teachers leadership capacity so we had them spearhead this work. We accompanied them on their walkthroughs but ultimately they were responsible for giving the feedback to the teachers in the building. |